Afghan insurgents shoot down NATO chopper; 1 dead

An Afghan police official investigates a damaged vehicle at the site of an explosion in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 21, 2011. At least three policemen were killed and six others injured in a bomb explosion, police officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
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An Afghan police official investigates a damaged vehicle at the site of an explosion in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 21, 2011. At least three policemen were killed and six others injured in a bomb explosion, police officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
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Afghan military staff clear the road after militants attacked a convoy of fuel tankers Thursday night in Dushi district of Baghlan province Saturday, April 23, 2011. The governor's office said two tankers, carrying fuel for international forces, were burned and seven others were damaged. (AP Photo/Javid Dehsabzi)— AP

Afghan military staff clear the road after militants attacked a convoy of fuel tankers Thursday night in Dushi district of Baghlan province Saturday, April 23, 2011. The governor's office said two tankers, carrying fuel for international forces, were burned and seven others were damaged. (AP Photo/Javid Dehsabzi)
/ AP

Afghan people enjoy their weekend as they stroll along a path on Wazir Akbar Khan hill in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday April 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)— AP

Afghan people enjoy their weekend as they stroll along a path on Wazir Akbar Khan hill in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday April 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
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KABUL, Afghanistan 
Insurgents shot down a NATO helicopter Saturday in a mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan where fighting has intensified, and one foreign service member was killed, the alliance said.

The U.S.-led military coalition said the death of the service member was related to the chopper crash in Alasay district of Kapisa province, but that the dead trooper was not aboard the aircraft. The only two crew members were recovered alive, it said.

No further details have been disclosed about the crash, which is under investigation.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in a telephone call that Taliban insurgents shot down the helicopter with a rocket. He said other coalition helicopters later flew to the crash site and fired weapons to destroy the wreckage.

Aziz Rahman Tawab, acting provincial governor in Kapisa province, said the helicopter crashed into the side of a mountain.

Aircraft are used extensively in Afghanistan by both NATO and Afghan government forces to transport and supply troops because the terrain is mountainous and roads are few and primitive. In September, a helicopter crash in a rugged area of Zabul province in southern Afghanistan killed nine American troops.

Fighting has escalated in the east as Afghan and coalition forces step up their attacks on insurgents along the Pakistani border and militants retaliate with attacks on pro-government forces and Afghan officials.

Afghan forces killed eight insurgents in a gunbattle Friday in the Pech Valley area of eastern Kunar province, which borders Pakistan, the Afghan Defense Ministry said Saturday.

The Interior Ministry said militants ambushed an Afghan police vehicle on Saturday, killing two policemen and wounding two others in Dara Nur district of Nangarhar province.

Also in the east, a suicide attacker on foot detonated a vest packed with explosives Friday afternoon at the entrance to a building used by education officials in Jayi Maydan district of Khost province, said Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai, the provincial police chief. The bomber died in the attack and four people were wounded, including the district education director and a principal, he said.

In the south, the governor's office also reported Saturday that the Afghan National Police arrested six armed insurgents the day before, including three wearing police uniforms, driving a police vehicle in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand.

To counter possible infiltration into the security forces, the U.S.-led coalition - at the Afghan government's request - has trained 220 Afghan soldiers to spot possible Taliban infiltrators, disgruntled soldiers within the ranks and other conditions that could make the force vulnerable to attack, according to the coalition.

The plan is to have 445 soldiers trained in counterintelligence by the end of the year.

Since March 2009, the coalition has recorded 20 incidents where a member of the Afghan security forces or someone wearing one of their uniforms killed coalition forces. Thirty-six coalition troops have died. It is not known how many of the 282,000 members of the Afghan security forces were killed.

The coalition says 10 of the 20 incidents involved the impersonation of an Afghan policeman or soldier; the causes of the other 10 incidents were attributed to combat stress or unknown reasons.